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Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the state's Community Restoration Fund has purchased 172 mortgages in an effort to bring owners in targeted communities out of foreclosure and keep the homes from abandonment.

The Community Restoration Fund has helped strengthen the financial position of homeowners, bringing stability back to the housing market in neighborhoods across the state, and preventing so-called "zombie properties," Cuomo said.

This latest effort brings the total investment through the Fund to $10 million, which has leveraged more than $111 million in private funds and enabled the purchase of 570 distressed mortgages to date. That total includes 132 properties in the Mid-Hudson Valley.

"New York continues to fight the spread of Zombie properties by supporting homeowners seeking the American Dream and investing in at-risk neighborhoods," Cuomo said in a news statement. "Through this transformative program, New Yorkers are provided the tools they need to make critical home improvements, while helping communities grow stronger in every corner of the state."

The Community Restoration Fund offers a second chance for homeowners with non-performing mortgages whose private servicers have been unable to assist.

The Governor launched the CRF in 2017 to purchase the first 378 distressed mortgages through the fund and modify them to help homeowners regain stable financial footing. To keep original owners in their homes, the CRF program works in ways that public and private servicers cannot.

The CRF is a key component of the Governor's $20 billion, five-year Housing Plan to increase access to housing and help combat foreclosure, Zombie properties and homelessness, by building and preserving 112,000 units of affordable housing. The program is run by NYS Homes and Community Renewal's State of New York Mortgage Agency subsidiary.

The 570 homes currently in the CRF program are located in nine of the state's 10 regions:

Capital Region: 47

Central New York: 13

Finger Lakes: 19

Long Island: 295

Mid-Hudson Valley: 132

Mohawk Valley: 8

North Country: 4

Southern Tier: 9

Western New York: 43

Funding for the initiative came from settlement funds paid to New York State by Morgan Stanley. Cuomo signed wide-ranging anti-foreclosure legislation in June 2016, which included the creation of the CRF.